Hugh Johnson: Central Banks Didn't Coordinate Action

While the People’s Bank of China, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England all took steps to boost their economies in a tight time frame Thursday, each acted on their own and not in concert with each other in an effort to boost the global economy, according to Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC.

"I don't think it was coordinated," he tells Yahoo. "However, it really indicates something. It indicates there's obviously concern among central bankers throughout the world, justifiable concern, that the global economy is in the process of slowing."

China cut its interest rate by 31 basis points to 6 percent, the ECB cut rates to 0.75 percent and the Bank of England increased its asset-purchase program by 50 billion pounds ($78 billion), Reuters reported.

And while some believe the efforts were a coordinated response to an economic threat, Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, denied there was any coordinated central bank action, according to Reuters.

However, Johnson tells Yahoo it is encouraging to see European policymakers, particularly the ECB, “get into the game,” noting that it is starting to take more aggressive steps toward trying to ease or to provide some growth to get the European economy out of a recession.

“It’s all very important to the idea of getting these economies growing and not stick too much with the so-called austerity program of the Germans,” he notes.

While China cut interest rates twice within a month, Johnson says it is a good sign.

“Two moves inside a month is pretty uncharacteristic. Obviously they’re very concerned their economy is slowing,” he says, adding that the Chinese economy is indeed slowing. “What they’re mostly concerned about is the reason their economy is slowing.

“And one of the reasons, of course, is Europe,” Johnson said. “They’re saying ‘We’d better do something to stimulate internal growth because we’re obviously being hurt by exports to Europe.’”

The Bank of England has “been doing the right thing for a very long time,” according to Johnson.